Sorin Postdoctoral Fellow in Philosophy
| J. (James) Brian
Pitts, Ph.D., Ph.D. Mailing Address: Department of Philosophy University of Notre Dame 100 Malloy Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 E-Mail: jpitts@nd.edu |
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| Education: |
Ph.D., Philosophy/History and Philosophy of Science, University of Notre Dame, 2008, supervisor Professor Don Howard; dissertation:
"General Covariance, Artificial Gauge Freedom and Empirical Equivalence"
M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Notre Dame, 2006
Ph.D. in physics, University of Texas at Austin, 2001
B.S. in physics, Georgia Tech 1995
| Areas of Interest |
Areas of Specialization:
Philosophy of Physics
History and Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Time and Space
Public Understanding of Science
Philosophy of Religion
Science and Religion
| Research |
Papers under Review:
"Empirical Equivalence, Artificial Gauge Freedom and a Generalized Kretschmann Objection"
"Permanent Underdetermination from Approximate Empirical Equivalence in Field Theory: Massless and Massive Electromagnetic, Yang-Mills and Gravitational Theories"
"How to See Remote Things Quickly in General Relativity: Simultaneity Conventions, Light in Conformally Flat Space-times and the Hyperboloidal Initial Value Problem"
Selected Papers:
"Why the Big Bang Singularity does not Help the Kalam Cosmological Argument for Theism," The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (2008) 675-708; older shorter version at Philsci-archive.pitt.edu.
"Absolute Objects and Counterexamples: Jones-Geroch Dust, Torretti Constant Curvature, Tetrad-Spinor, and Scalar Density," Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (2006) 347-371; Philsci-archive.pitt.edu, gr-qc/0506102v4.
With W. C. Schieve, "Universally Coupled Massive Gravity," Theoretical and Mathematical Physics 151 (2007) p. 700, gr-qc/0503051v3; also in Russian.
"Constrained Dynamics of Universally Coupled Massive Spin 2-spin 0 Gravities,"
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 33 (2006) 279-284. Talk given at QG05, Cala Gonone, Sardinia, Italy, September 2005. hep-th/0601185.
Review of The Command of Light: Rowland's School of Physics and the Spectrum by George Kean Sweetnam (American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia), Aestimatio 2 (2005) 33-8.
With William C. Schieve, "Null Cones and Einstein's Equations in Minkowki Spacetime," Foundations of Physics 34 (2004) 211; gr-qc/0406102.
With W. C. Schieve, "Nonsingularity of Flat Robertson-Walker Models in the Special Relativistic Approach to Einstein's Equations," Foundation of Physics 33 (2003) 1315; IARD 2002 proceedings; gr-qc/0406103.
"Gravitation with a Flat Background Metric," dissertation supervised by William C. Schieve, Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin; related work at Philsci-archive.pitt.edu and gr-qc/0111004.
With W. C. Schieve, "Light Cone Consistency in Bimetric Gravitation," in Relativistic Astrophysics: 20th Texas Symposium (December 10-15, 2000, Austin, Texas), ed. John C. Wheeler and Hugo Martel, p. 763, AIP; gr-qc/0101097.
With W. C. Schieve, "Slightly Bimetric Gravitation," General Relativity and Gravitation 33 (2001) 1319; gr-qc/0101058.
Selected Papers in Progress:
“Energy Conservation, Mental Causation and Real Physics: Question-Begging A Priori and Interesting A Posteriori Objections”
“Gravitation as a Spin 2 Field: Universal Forces and the Conventionality of Geometry in Light of Modern Particle Physics”
“Universally Coupled Massive Nordström Scalar Gravities and Their Philosophical and (Counterfactual) Historical Significance”
“Universally Coupled Massive Gravity, II: Two-Parameter Ogievetsky-Polubarinov Family of Relatives of General Relativity”
“Spinors without an Orthonormal Tetrad: How the Ogievetsky-Polubarinov Construction Disproves What Everyone Knows”
Refereeing:
For Foundations of Physics Letters and Foundations of Physics
Selected Presentations (since 2002):
“Addressing Underdetermination between Massless and Massive Gravity Numerically in Spherical Symmetry?” 18th Midwest Relativity Meeting, October 24-5, 2008, University of Notre Dame.
“Why the Big Bang Singularity Does Not Help the Kalām Cosmological Argument for Theism,”
God, Nature and Design: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, St. Anne's College, Oxford,
July 10-13, 2008.
“Spinors in Coordinates: How Ogievetsky and Polubarinov Avoid a Tetrad,” 11th Eastern Gravity Meeting (EGM11), Pennsylvania State University, May 12, 2008.
“Is General Relativity Generally Covariant? Anderson-Friedman Absolute Objects, Spinors and the Metric’s Determinant,” University of Maryland, Foundations of Physics Group, February 4, 2008.
“Empirical Equivalence and General Covariance: Insights from Artificial Descriptive Redundancy,” Department of Philosophy, University of Leeds, January 9, 2008.
"General Covariance and the Absolute Object in General Relativity," Tenth Eastern Gravity Meeting EGM10, Cornell University, June 2007. http://baba.astro.cornell.edu/~ecgm10/
"Absolute Objects, Counterexamples and General Covariance," 15th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics, University of Leeds, Leeds, England, UK, March 2007.
"The Anderson-Friedman Absolute Objects Program: Several Successes, One Difficulty," PSA 2006: Philosophy of Science Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, November 2006.
Commentator on Bradford Skow's "Sophisticated Substantivalism and Spacetime Symmetries," American Philosophical Association, Central Division, April 2006.
"Astronomical Ages and Genesis: Starlight Transit Time and Its Theological Reception," The History of Science Society 2005 Annual Meeting, November 2005, Minneapolis.
"Constrained Dynamics of Universally Coupled Massive Spin 2-spin 0 Gravities," Fourth Meeting on Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity QG05, Cala Gonone (Sardinia, Italy), September 2005.
"Gravity as (Really) a 'Spin 2' Universal Force in Minkowski Spacetime,"
International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, Concordia University, Montreal, May 2004
"Updating Reichenbach on Universal Forces and Geometric Conventionality,"
12th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Oviedo, Spain, August 2003
"The Special Relativistic Approach to Einstein's Equations," 12th Midwest Relativity Meeting, University of Chicago, September 2002
"The Special Relativistic Approach to Einstein's Equations," 11th UK Conference on the Foundations of Physics, University of Oxford, September 2002.
ts James Brian Pitts James Brian Pitts James Brian Pitts
| Selected
Teaching (Spring 2009): |
Phil 43701, Philosophy of Science
Phil 10101, section 9, Introduction to Philosophy
PhotographsBrian Pitts
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